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Rena Lanford
Rena Lanford is one of the two main protagonists of Star Ocean: The Second Story and its remake, Star Ocean: Second Evolution, alongside Claude C. Kenny. A Nedian, Rena ended up on the frontier planet of Expel and brought up in the village of Arlia. She encountered a mysterious man in the Sacred Forest who saved her from a monster and immediately believes him to be the legendary Hero of Light. Ultimately, the 'Hero,' Claude Kenny, decides to investigate the Sorcery Globe and she goes along to help and hopefully find her biological parents. Eventually she and their party arrive at the top of Eluria Tower on El to destroy the Sorcery Globe only be confronted by the Ten Wise Men. This encounter leads to their party being transported to Energy Nede where they must use their alien powers to not only save Expel, but the entire Universe. During this war Rena learns of her orgins, having been born millions of years prior with her family long since deceased. After defeating the Ten Wise Men Rena is returned to Expel with the rest of her party, though she eventually leaves for Earth to study medicine at the Federation Academy. Story Birth and Early Childhood Rena Lanford is born to an unnamed father and Rhima, a renowned Nedian researcher of Symbology on May 13th of the year 699,997,565 B.C. She visits the Outer Gardens on Energy Nede at some time during her youth, but spends a majority of her time on an unnamed planet in the Beta Sector as the Symbology Weapons Laboratory on the planet - the only colony of Nedians outside of Energy Nede, though it is enveloped by a space-time displacement shield - where she would often visit the forest located just outside the Institute. In 699,997,563 B.C. one of Rhima's projects utilizing Creation Energy goes terribly and irreversibly wrong. With no hope of shutting the project down she puts herself wholly into saving her child. She gives Rena a Quadratic Key pendant and places the toddler into a special, protective device which would transport her into the space-time shield in order to shift Rena through space and time, effectively saving her life if the technology worked as theorized. Expelian Upbringing Transported by the space-time shield millions of years into the future and across space, Rena's pod arrives in the Sacred Forest on the central Cross continent of the planet Expel in SD 351. Not long after she arrives on the underdeveloped planet in the Theta Sector, she was stumbled upon by the Expellian woman Westa, who took the girl back with her to the village of Arlia. When Westa and her husband volunteered to raise the child as their own, not a single resident of the village gave a word of protest as the good couple had not been blessed with any children. Tragedy strikes, however, years later in form of Rena's adoptive father's death. After crying herself asleep, Rena is woken by an emotional argument between her mother and the village mayor. It is there, listening at the top of the stairs, that Rena learns that she is not Westa's true daughter and that her pendant is the only link to her old life. Growing up peacefully in Arlia, Rena became close friends with two local boys--Dias Flac of Arlia and Alen Tucks of Salva--and Cecille--Dias' younger sister. She became practically a sister to Cecille and Dias while Alen always looked upon her in a more romantic light. In SD 364 a group of bandits attack Dias and his family--Dias is the only survivor. Bereft of his parents and sister, Dias left the village of Arlia to make his claim to fame as a traveling swordsman where he could go from battle to battle and drown his grief in carnage. Rena who feels very close to Dias is very hurt by Dias' departure. Journey of the Hero of Light In SD 366, Rena, who is now seventeen years of age, has become comfortable with her life in Arlia, though the arrival of the Sorcery Globe fills her with fear and gives her a yearning for the arrival of the Hero of Light. She spends most of her days daydreaming underneath the boughs of the Sacred Forest on the outskirts of town or at Bossman's house. Bossman, the village carpenter, is often in Salva doing contract work for the Tucks family and this causes him to have to leave his children home alone; their loneliness causes Rena to feel sorry for them and she spends as much time as possible with the boy and girl, telling them stories and playing with them. One morning, Rena leaves for the Sacred Forest after a brief argument with Westa who tried to stop her from going. Upon arriving in the forest she felt so calm that she traveled deeper into the forest than she usually did, arriving near the spot where her pod landed--and the exact spot where the creation energy device on Milokeena teleported Claude. At gorilla-like animal-turned-monster due to Quadratic Sphere radiation, attacked her, prompting Claude to enter combat with the beast in order to save her, breaking the Underdeveloped Planet Preservation Pact as he was forced to utilize his Phase Gun to slay the foe. To Rena, it looked as if he was wielding a Sword of Light, and his clothes were certainly alien; naturally, the Expellian-raised teenager thought that he was the Hero of Light, a legendary warrior come to save the world. Still reeling from the attack and the realization that this was the Hero, Rena fled when Claude stepped closer to her, but soon caught her bearings and waited for him. There they introduced themselves formally and she profusely apologized for running off after he had saved her life. When Claude asks her where they are, she is even more mesmerized by Mr. Kenny and takes him along with her back to Arlia, discussing his origins along the way. After his initial viewing of the tiny hamlet, Claude proceeds to ask Rena to show him around the village, which she happily agrees to do. She shows him all the major buildings in towns and introduces him to the townsfolk who consequently all make quite a big deal about her being with her 'boyfriend.' One man even comments that this is the first time he has ever seen her walking around with a guy before. Eventually, however, they make it back to the riverbed where her and Westa's house is. Upon arriving at the front door Rena asks if Claude wouldn't mind waiting outside for a short period of time while she runs inside and cleans up a little bit; Claude agrees. Excited, she runs inside to inform her mother that the Hero of Light has arrived on Expel. Initially suspicious of whether or not this really was the Hero, she is convinced when Rena informed her that Claude had used the Sword of Light to save her within the Sacred Forest. As they discuss him, Claude walks in the front door after tiring of waiting for Rena. She tells him that she has a little more to do and asks if he would mind waiting just a little while longer, which Claude agrees to do and informs her that he will walk around the town until she is ready. After a short dialogue with her mother, Westa tells Rena to go fetch Claude and bring him back to their house. As she begins to search the small village for the Earthling, the villagers inform her that he was asking the strangest questions. She catches up to him towards the entrance to the Sacred Forest and brings him back to her house, where Westa has quickly cooked up a massive feast in honor of the supposed Hero of Light. An hour later it all begins to turn into pandemonium when Westa sends Rena across the way to get Mayor Regis and inform him about the arrival of the Hero. Again, Regis is easily convinced after he hears that Claude has the 'Sword of Light', and he follows Rena over to her house. While she was gone Westa had let slip to Claude that he was the Hero; when Claude seemed confused she ran downstairs flustered and met with Rena and Mayor Regis. Claude descends the stairs after Westa explains what she did, and Regis quickly moves in to welcome Claude to Arlia. They sit down and Regis begins to question Claude on his journey, which ultimately boils down to Regis accusing Claude of lying and that he is the Hero of Legend. Claude denies it, even after Regis explains about the Sorcery Globe, and the mayor ultimately aggrees that Claude is not the warrior. Rena, however, can't believe that Claude is not the warrior and runs outside, unable to believe that he was not the Hero of Legend. The next morning Rena, who is still upset, heads to the Sacred Forest in order to be alone and think. Once there she falls deep into her thoughts and reminisces about when her father died and she learned that she was not Westa's real child. She asks herself who she is right before Claude arrives to check on her. Claude talks to her and she comes to accept that he is not the Hero of Light after all. After they finish Rena asks for some privacy to which Claude complies. When she is satisfied she decides that it is time to head back and makes her way out of the Sacred Forest and towards Arlia. She makes it as far as the bridge to the town before running into Allen Tucks, her childhood friend, just outside the city limits. He informs her that he is finally ready--for their wedding... Surprised and confused, she panics, just as Allen's swords-for-hire come out of the bushes and kidnap her. With her securely held, they head for Salva, threatening to use force on any townsperson who dares try and stop him. Leaving her alone in his father's room, Allen goes to get everything ready at the alter for their wedding ceremony. Rena escapes through a secret door into the Salva Drift, where she makes her way deeper until accidentally walking straight into Allen's arms when she enters the antechamber. Realizing the danger that she is in Rena turns and flees, only to be caught by several of Allen's guards who proceed to tie her onto the alter. Once she is secured Allen begins the forced wedding ceremony but is interrupted by Claude. The Earthling unties Rena but they are both attacked by Allen, mutated by an energy stone into a monster of some sort, and with Claude's swordmanship and Rena's restorative symbology they manage to overcome him and destroy his energy stone. At first they think that they killed Allen, but after realizing that the man is still alive Rena uses her healing powers to revive her former captor who doesn't remember anything after finding the stone. Rescued, Rena and Claude return to Arlia. Sorcery Globe Investigation That night Mayor Regis requests that Claude investigate the Sorcery Globe for the people of Expel in the hopes that while on his journey he will learn how to get back home. Claude eventually agrees and Rena requests to go with him. The Mayor consents and Claude hesitantly consents on the condition that she get Westa's permission. While the Mayor talks to Westa, Rena and Claude talk on the bridge; Rena explains to Claude that she is not Westa's real daughter and informs him that she hopes to learn who she is and what happened to her real mother while they are on their journey. The next morning the duo leave Arlia for Krosse Castle by way of the mining town of Salva. By the time they make it to Krosse the sun has set and they are forced to stay at the local hotel which is managed by Rena's aunt, Rachel. Rachel gives them a room free of charge and wishes them a good night, thinking that they are a couple. The next morning she asks about Rena's "special" night with her boyfriend and Rena gets flustered and adamantly responds that Claude is NOT her boyfriend, prompting Claude to sigh in disappointment. When they go to reserve their audience with the King of Krosse, due to the fact that they have a special introduction from Mayor Regis they are shuffled to the front of the line, prompting a nearby treasure hunter to become insatiably curious and sneak into the throne room to see who they are and why they are being granted special treatment by the crown. After receiving the King's blessing on their investigation of the Sorcery Globe along with travel money and a passport, they leave the castle in order to make their way to Kurik so that they may catch a boat to the continent of Ell. However, as Rena and Claude near the gates they find themselves in the middle between a dispute between two symbologists, one of whom was the treasure hunter who had snuck into the throne room during their audience with the king. After the treasure hunter forces the other symbologist to retreat, she forces Rena and Claude to accompany her to the Krosse Caverns to follow a rare treasure map which ultimately leads to some Anceint Writings, which unbeknownst to them contains details on a paradise called 'Nede.' After the spelunking is accomplished and the treasure scored, Celine learns that they are investigating the Sorcery Globe and decides to join their party. Together the trio all travel to Kurik where their hopes of reaching Ell quickly are swept away along with the port city as an enormous tidal wave devastates the region. Barely escaping with their lives, Rena, Celine, and Claude make their way towards Halrey but stop in Celine's hometown of Marze only to be entangled with a kidnapping plot and reunited with the most unlikely person from Rena's past - Dias Flac. The Battle of Marze Village All of the children of Marze have been kidnapped by an unknown group of bandits who somehow managed to infiltrate the Forest of Symbols, the training grounds of Marze's Symbologists which is protected by powerful symbols. The bandits demand a large sum of Fol and the a book of secret arts from the townsfolk in exchange for the safe return of the children. Due to the fact that the bandits somehow defeated the protective symbols within the forest, the townspeople haven't the slightest idea as to the power that this particular band of scumbags has at their disposal and are thus conflicted over their course of action. It is at this time that Dias Flac passes through the village on his way to the Lacuer continent in order to participate in the Lacuer Armory Contest. Upon hearing that he is a traveling swordsman, the symbologists ask Dias' aide to defeat the band of ruffians and save the children. He agrees as it would be a good warm up for the Armory Contest. The Master of Symbology, however, does not think that they should involve an outsider such as Dias. It is at this time that Rena and her friends arrive in Marze, where they join in on the discussion in the village elder's house. She also has numerous exclusive private actions, involving pairing Celine with Chris, and rescuing Yoole from Zandor and his thugs in Krosse and Harley respectively. Personality Rena has a vivid imagination and is known to be quite the dreamer. Nevertheless, she is able to focus on the task at hand and face the enemy when needed. Growing up in Arlia, she is known to be good at home cooking and the martial art of jujitsu along with her unique healing symbology. She loves the Sacred Forest and cute objects, though she harbors a distaste of objects that are not very cute. Her favorite type of guy is a man who is fun to be around as well as one who can make her feel safe. Battle Rena is primarily a healer; and the strongest in the game. She also equips knuckles for a small offensive ability in early game, but this ability isn't developed through the story. She also learns supportive and offensive Symbology. She is the only character in the game that can cast reviving spells. Symbology Category:Characters